Safety Specialist

The Safety Specialist will work onsite 5x per week at our Las Cruces NM office. This person will also occasionally work from our Spaceport of America location in NM. 

Your Mission:

• Demonstrates an excellent safety behavior and attitude, follows regulatory practices and rules, recognizes and promotes hazard reporting and ensures effective safety reporting.
• Evaluates and ensures compliance of the Environmental, Safety and Industrial Hygiene Programs with all applicable government laws and regulations.
• Ensures all applicable registrations, permits and licenses are in place and current for the hazardous waste program.
• Oversees hazardous waste operations and works directly with departmental Waste Coordinators as a resource.
• Gathers data for the purpose of identifying, reducing, or eliminating sources of pollutants and/or hazards that affect the work environment and health of the employees.
• Assists with the monitoring of employee exposure to chemical and other toxic substances and physical hazards, including Industrial Hygiene (IH) sampling and coordinating the activities with Certified Industrial Hygienists and other safety consultants as required.
• Ability to identify and evaluate occupational exposures to harmful substances and make recommendations for control or elimination of hazards in accordance with OSHA, NIOSH and ANSI requirements.
• Acts as an information conduit to bring safety issues to the attention of management and to deliver safety information to the staff, contractors and stakeholders.
• Assist Systems Safety engineers in establishing regulatory requirements related to FAA licensing
• Builds and maintains excellent working relationships across the organization.
• Provides and articulates information regarding safety issues to all organizational levels.
• Investigates injuries and incidents.
• Analyzes data for trends related to injuries, hazards, events and occurrences.
• Ensures compliance with regulatory agencies, including OSHA, FAA, EPA, NTSB, and local municipalities. 
• Serves as Emergency Response team member.
• Continually seeks opportunities to improve the knowledge and skill level of all levels of leadership to positively impact the safe operations of the business.
• Develops and implements effective safety programs to ensure that operations are fully compliant with Local, State, and Federal laws/regulations.
• Executes a comprehensive facility and operations inspection process to ensure continuous improvement while maintaining regulatory compliance.
• Facilitates required regulatory training and maintains all safety related record keeping.
• In conjunction with the Virgin Galactic Safety Team, develops proactive annual safety plans that provide solutions necessary to build and sustain a world‐class safety culture.

*The Employer retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position.

What You Bring

• Detailed knowledge of, and experience working with, OSHA, EPA, FAA and local regulators
• Demonstrated ability to perform root cause analysis for injuries and incident/accident investigations.
• Experience in Human Factors as it applies to Aerospace Operations and Maintenance
• Experience with aerospace industry processes is highly desirable.
• Experience with aviation flight line processes is highly desirable
• Excellent written and verbal skills with the ability to develop and deliver articulate presentations to groups of all sizes and levels.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software.
• Ability to develop and maintain partnerships across functional areas.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule outside the normal business days and hours to support operations or special events.
• Ability to respond to serious emergency situations.

 Education/Certifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in a safety field is highly desired.
• High school diploma or GED required.
• Certifications or similar within aerospace/aviation field is beneficial.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 2+ years of safety experience.
• Experience with regulatory agency policies, procedures and programs.
• Experience with start-up programs (desired).

Physical and/or Additional Requirements

• Must be able to work flexible hours outside of normal business hours on occasion.
• Must be able to stand for extended periods of time.
• Must be able to stoop, bend, crawl, and maneuver in tight spaces.
• Physically able to handle items weighing up to 40 lbs. (unassisted).   

The annual U.S. base salary range for this full-time position is $67,500.00–$97,950.00. The base pay actually offered will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, location, and experience and take into account internal equity. Other forms of pay (e.g., bonus or long term incentive) may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and other benefits, dependent on the position offered. For more information regarding Virgin Galactic benefits, please visit https://vgcareers.virgingalactic.com/global/en/benefits

Who We Are

Virgin Galactic is transforming humanity’s relationship with space. By making it more open and accessible, we are connecting the world to the love, wonder and awe inspired by space travel, helping to create new opportunities for the benefit of life on Earth. Whether it’s supporting cutting-edge research missions for scientists and students, or offering life-changing experiences for the adventurers among us, Virgin Galactic is THE spaceline for Earth. Such an audacious vision requires a team as driven as they are curious - one capable of redefining the boundaries of what’s possible. 

Export Requirements 
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. Person (either a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident or a protected individual as defined 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) or be able to obtain the required authorization from either the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Department of Commerce. The applicant must also not be included in the list of Specifically Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. See list here.

EEO Statement
Virgin Galactic is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Virgin Galactic is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status. 

DRUG FREE WORKPLACE
Virgin Galactic is committed to a Drug Free Workplace.  All applicants post offer and active teammates are subject to testing for marijuana, cocaine, opioids, amphetamines, PCP, and alcohol when criteria is met as outlined in our policies. This can include pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, and accident related drug and alcohol testing.